Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest – April 2025

Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest – April 2025



Hello everyone,

Welcome to this month’s Zoho Developer Community Digest! We’ve lined up an exciting series of technical sessions, product deep-dives, and community conversations to keep you informed and inspired. Don’t forget to check out our resource hub and join the ongoing discussions in the new developer space (More on this under Community Discussions section!). 

Let’s dive in!

Upcoming Events

Creator Tech Connect:

Title: Building Data Relationships using Lookups in Zoho Creator
Date: May 15, 2025
APAC & ANZ: 11 AM to 12 PM IST – Registration Link
EMEA: 4 PM to 5 PM IST – Registration Link
Americas: 9 PM to 10 PM IST – Registration Link

Creator's tech connect series would comprise of technical sessions that provide immersive training on the key essentials and technical nuances of building a solution in Zoho Creator. This is a great opportunity for our developer community to stay informed about Creator's new feature releases, product roadmap, best practices to follow while scripting in deluge, new deluge concepts, and cloud functions. In our previous session, we discussed the recent product release updates in Zoho Creator. In the upcoming session, we will explore building data relationships using Lookups in Zoho Creator.

Zoho Developer Hangout – Episode 22

Date: May 14, 2025
Time: 8 PM IST – Registration link

Join @Onur Gülay, CEO of Smile Center Turkey and Zoho CRM Custom Functions category winner at ZDC Hackathon 2024, as he shares how he built Quoter—an AI-powered quoting system using Zoho CRM and Zoho Cliq. His solution slashes quote creation time from request to approved deal in under 30 seconds! Learn how real-time product matching, dynamic data mapping, and user-validated CRM record creation can drastically improve efficiency and streamline operations. He'll walk you through the full automation journey—from receiving a user’s initial request to finalizing a deal, while revealing the scripts, best practices, and future enhancements, all rooted in the belief that "Time is a Golden Key."

Catalyst 101

Title: Part 4 – User Authentication and Application Security
Date: May 20, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM IST & 8:00 PM IST – Registration link

Catalyst is a full-stack cloud development platform that simplifies the complex. Build, test, host, deploy, and optimize solutions like never before. Its easy learning curve eliminates complexities, empowering you to craft bold innovations at the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO). This is a four-part learning initiative that focuses on offering a thorough understanding of Catalyst—Zoho's cloud computing platform. 

Zoho CRM APIs

Title: Part 6 – Mastering COQL
Date: May 22, 2025
Time: 10 AM & 9 PM IST – Registration link

COQL (CRM Object Query Language) lets you write SQL-like queries to retrieve records from Zoho CRM, including across related modules. In this session, we'll cover how to use Dot-notation in COQL to establish implicit joins and fetch records linked via lookup fields and subqueries as a smart alternative to joins — allowing dynamic filtering based on related data while improving performance and memory efficiency.

Zoho CRM Developer Series – Client Script

Title: Part 7 – Client Script in Custom Buttons and Canvas List View
Date: May 27, 2025
Time: 10 AM & 9 PM IST – Registration link

In this session, we explore the latest enhancements to Zoho CRM’s Client Script feature, with a focus on Custom Buttons and the Canvas List View. You'll learn when and why to use scripts with Custom Buttons, how to set them up, and see a live walkthrough in action. We'll also explore Canvas List View, where another hands-on demo illustrates how Client Scripts can bring interactivity and smarter actions directly into your list views, helping you create a more dynamic and efficient CRM experience.

Extensions 101

Title: Zoho CRM – Webhooks & Signals
Date: May 29, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM IST & 8:00 PM IST – Registration link

This series aims to guide developers through the process of building extensions for various Zoho products using the Zoho Developer platform, Sigma. Our previous sessions in this series covered extension development for multiple Zoho products and highlighted the platform's key capabilities for developing efficient extensions. Register for the upcoming sessions, where we'll delve deep into developing extensions for Zoho products like CRM, Books, and Desk.

Zoho CRM Developer Series – Queries

Title: Introduction to Queries
Date: June 5, 2025
Time: 10 AM IST & 9 PM IST – Registration link

In this session, we’ll introduce Queries—a powerful feature that lets you dynamically retrieve data from Zoho CRM or third-party services using REST APIs and COQL. You’ll learn when and where to use Queries and the types of data sources they support. 

Learning Table Series:

Title: Smart Visitor Management with Zoho Creator – Built for Every Industry
Date: June 5, 2025
APAC & ANZ: 11 AM to 12 PM IST – Registration Link
EMEA: 4 PM to 5 PM IST – Registration Link
Americas: 9 PM to 10 PM IST – Registration Link

We designed this series to provide users with valuable insights and knowledge about Creator's capabilities in various business use cases and applications. This year as well, we have adopted the 12 Months 12 Industries concept. Every month, we will focus on a specific industry, illustrating its unique processes with real-time business scenarios and how to make best use of Creator for that industry. Our recent webinar on Creator for the property management was a success, and during the upcoming session we'll be exploring Creator for the Visitors Management.

Resource Spotlight

Info
We've consolidated all the resources from the developer community learning series into a centralized hub for your convenient access. Consider bookmarking our Zoho Developer Community website to stay informed about the latest updates in the developer community.

Community Discussions

Big news—we're moving! The developer discussion channel is shifting from Zoho Cliq to a new space on Zoho CommunitySpaces, and it comes with a mobile app! iOS folks, grab it from the App Store. Android users, hang tight—the app’s on its way. Until then, sign up here and use the web version. (Using Zoho credentials? Just sign in—no need to fill the form.)

Why the change? This new space brings all Zoho users together, lets you follow threads and people, sends personalized notifications, and has a much smoother experience overall. We’ve been envisioning this for a while, so we’re thrilled it’s live.

Developers ZUG Cliq Channel

  • Are you a Zoho developer? A blog with solutions featuring various Zoho products and features could be refreshing to scroll through. Check out miningwebs.in—Vishal's blog solely dedicated to Zoho-related coding content.
  • Usually, one asks a question and another posts the answer. Check out this interesting conversation with the roles reversed! A community member asks questions trying to understand OP's problem, and that leads OP to figure out the answer themself.
  • Newly released features are great, yes! But at times, features that are still in the works could fit your requirements perfectly. One such feature was what fit Evonne's needs. Check out the conversation here, and learn about ZDK CLI in more detail in this 4-part virtual series we concluded recently.
  • Populating data can be tiresome, but bulk-importing can make it a piece of cake. @Mike not only shows @Thameem how to do it, but goes beyond and warns him of some pitfalls and how to avoid them. If you're prepping your own data for importing, you might find Mike's advice useful.
  • Sometimes, the solution you're looking for is right under your nose! And all it takes is a fresh set of eyes, and in this case, @Sohib's.

Community Spotlight

Cliq Contributors

We want to express our sincere appreciation to all our community contributors. Your commitment, expertise, and the time you invest are invaluable to the community. 



For those who are new to the Zoho Developer Community, check out this post to get started. 

Make sure to follow the digest every month for the most recent updates and conversations. Stay connected and participate in the forums and the Cliq channel to be featured in the upcoming month's digest. Wishing you all an amazing month ahead!


SEE ALSO


    • Recent Topics

    • How to track repeat customers?

      I own a food business and every order is entered into Zoho with: a unique Customer ID total order amount date of order With this information, I want to be able to see a list of my "best" customers. In other words, descending lists arranged according to:

    • How to hide or archive a blog post temporarily in Zoho commerce website builder?

      I would like to temporarily hide or archive a blog post in zoho commerce website builder so that it doesnt appear on my website till I enable it again. I tried to look for this option but could not find it.  It only allows me to permanently delete a blog

    • Don't Allow Customer to Edit Values After Submitting Ticket

      After a customer submits a ticket through the customer portal, they can go into the ticket and see some of the values from the questions they answered in the sidebar. Currently, a customer can edit these values even after they submitted them. This makes no sense. We ask very specific questions that we don't want customers to later change! Please disable the ability for customers to edit the values to their submission questions in the portal. Screenshot attached.

    • Button to Reapply Filters on Sheet(s)

      I wrote a macro that I attached to a button to reapply the filters on all my sheets and it says it works, but it doesn't actually do anything. What is wrong with it? Is there another way? Or even make it work for one sheet? Sub UniversalFilterRefresh()

    • Zoho Books - Breaking A Working App

      We've been using Zoho for many years now. Across all apps, entering phone numbers in standard formats was enabled in all apps. These formats are: xxx.yyy.zzzz xxx-yyy-zzzz (xxx) yyy-zzzz and we were able also to add extension numbers in these formats:

    • using the client script based on the look up filed i wnat to fetch the record details like service number , service rate

      based on selected service look up field iwant to fetch the service serial number in the serice form how i achive using client script also how i get the current date in the date field in the on load of the form

    • Automate pushing Zoho CRM backups into Zoho WorkDrive

      Through our Zoho One subscription we have both Zoho CRM and Zoho WorkDrive. We have regular backups setup in Zoho CRM. Once the backup is created, we are notified. Since we want to keep these backups for more than 7 days, we manually download them. They

    • MS Teams for daily call operations

      Hello all, Our most anticipated and crucial update is finally here! Organizations using Microsoft Teams phone system can now integrate it effectively with Zoho CRM for tasks like dialling numbers and logging calls. We are enhancing our MS Teams functionality

    • Address changes in quote form

      When entering a quote, the first piece of information required is the Account, which properly populates the billing and shipping address fields. Then I use the lookup function to select a contact, and when I do, the billing and shipping addresses are

    • Build data protection into your support

      At Zoho, privacy is our principle. Every Zoho product is built with privacy as the foundation and the finishing touch, guiding every decision we make. Security, privacy, and compliance are woven into the software development lifecycle, starting from how

    • Conditional formatting: before/after "today" not available

      When setting conditional formatting, it only allows me to set a specific calendar date when choosing "Before" or "After" conditions. Typing "today" returns the error "Value must be of type date". Is there a workaround? Thanks for any help!

    • Zoho mail account ownership transfer

      We recently took over another company and have assumed responsibility for its Zoho account, including Zoho Mail and all related services. We would like to formally transfer ownership of this account to our organization. Could you please outline the complete

    • Display Client Name in Zoho Creator Client Portal Dashboard

      Hello Zoho Creator Team, We hope you are doing well. Zoho Creator recently introduced the option to set a client’s display name in the Client Portal settings, which is very helpful for providing a personalized portal experience. However, there is currently

    • Introducing Connected Records to bring business context to every aspect of your work in Zoho CRM for Everyone

      Hello Everyone, We are excited to unveil phase one of a powerful enhancement to CRM for Everyone - Connected Records, available only in CRM's Nextgen UI. With CRM for Everyone, businesses can onboard all customer-facing teams onto the CRM platform to

    • project name field issue- n8n

      Hey guys, I have a question. I want to create a new product using the workflow. The problem is with the product name field; I don't know how to fill it in. The workflow starts with retrieving information from the leads table, retrieving links to scrape

    • Customizable UI components in pages | Theme builder

      Anyone know when these roadmap items are scheduled for release? They were originally scheduled for Q4 2025. https://www.zoho.com/creator/product-roadmap.html

    • Stop the Workarounds: We Need Native Multi-Step Forms

      After over 17 years of community requests, I'm hoping the Zoho team can finally address the lack of native multi-page form support in Zoho Creator. This has been one of the longest-standing feature requests in the community, with threads spanning nearly

    • Amazon.in FBA multiple warehouse integration with Zoho Inventory

      My organisation subscribed to Zoho One looking at the opportunity to integrate Amazon.in with Inventory. But during the configuration, we understood the integration has severe limitations when it involves multiple warehouses in the same Organisation.

    • Analytics <-> Invoice Connection DELETED by Zoho

      Hi All, I am reaching out today because of a big issue we have at the moment with Zoho Analytics and Zoho Invoice. Our organization relies on Zoho Analytics for most of our reporting (operationnal teams). A few days ago we observed a sync issue with the

    • Introducing Workqueue: your all-in-one view to manage daily work

      Hello all, We’re excited to introduce a major productivity boost to your CRM experience: Workqueue, a dynamic, all-in-one workspace that brings every important sales activity, approval, and follow-up right to your fingertips. What is Workqueue? Sales

    • Feature Request - Set Default Values for Meetings

      Hi Zoho CRM Team, It would be very useful if we could set default values for meeting parameters. For example, if you always wanted Reminder 1 Day before. Currently you need to remember to choose it for every meeting. Also being able to use merge tags

    • Issues with Actions By Zoho Flow

      Hi, I have a workflow that fires when a deal reaches a stage. This then sends out a contract for the client to sign. I have connected this up through Actions by Zoho Flow. Unfortunately this fails to send out. I have tracked it down to the date fields.

    • Adding custom "lookup" fields in Zoho Customization

      How can I add a second “lookup” field in Zoho? I’m trying to create another lookup that pulls from my Contacts, but the option doesn’t appear in the module customization sidebar. In many cases, a single work order involves multiple contacts. Ideally,

    • CRM x WorkDrive: We're rolling out the WorkDrive-powered file storage experience for existing users

      Release plan: Gradual rollout to customers without file storage add-ons, in this order: 1. Standalone CRM 2. CRM Plus and Zoho One DCs: All | Editions: All Available now for: - Standalone CRM accounts in Free and Standard editions without file storage

    • Canvas Detail View Related List Sorting

      Hello, I am having an issue finding a way to sort a related list within a canvas detail view. I have sorted the related list on the page layout associated with the canvas view, but that does not transfer to the canvas view. What am I missing?

    • Windows Desktop App - request to add minimization/startup options

      Support Team, Can you submit the following request to your development team? Here is what would be optimal in my opinion from UX perspective: 1) In the "Application Menu", add a menu item to Exit the app, as well as an alt-key shortcut for these menus

    • Ability for admin to access or make changes in zoho form without asking for ownership

      Currently in zoho form only form owner can make the changes in the form and if someone else has to make changes then we have to transfer the ownership to them and even admin also cant access it . So i think admin must have the ability or option to access

    • Issue with WhatsApp Template Approval and Marketing Message Limit in Zoho Bigin

      We are facing issues while creating and using WhatsApp message templates through Zoho Bigin, and we request your clarification and support regarding the same. 1. Utility Template Approval Issue Until December, we were able to create WhatsApp templates

    • Zoho CRM Calendar View

      Hello Zoho team, We need desperately a calendar view next to list, kandan and other views. I think it should be easy to implement as you already have the logic from Projects and also from Kanban View in CRM. In calendar view when we set it up - we choose

    • Camera

      I can sign on to a meeting and see the other participants, but my screen is dark. The instructions for Zoho "Camera Settings" say "click on lock icon in address bar," but I don't see that icon! Suggestions?

    • What is Workqueue and how to hide it?

      Hi， My CRM suddenly have this "Workqueue", may I ask how to set the permission of this tab?

    • Batch/lot # and Storage bin location

      Hi I want to ask for a feature on Zoho inventory I own a warehouse and I've gone through different management software solutions with no luck until I found Zoho, it has been a game changer for my business with up to the minute information, I'm extremely happy with it. It's almost perfect. And I say Almost because the only thing missing for me (and I'm sure I'm not alone) is the need of being able to identify the lot number of my inventory and where it is located in the warehouse. Due to the nature

    • Adding Sender Address with Basic Plan

      According to the knowledge base, I should be able to add Sender addresses with the Basic Plan. But whenever I try to add an email, it takes me to a search window and I cannot find any emails in the list. Even mine, which is the admin. email.

    • Conditional Field Visibility in Bigin CRM

      I would like to request support for conditional field visibility within Bigin CRM. This feature should allow administrators to configure show/hide rules for fields based on predefined criteria (e.g., field values, picklist selections, stage changes,

    • Bill automation in Zoho Books

      Hi I am looking for 3rd-party options for bill automation in zoho which are economical and preferably have accurate scanning. What options do I have? Zoho's native scanning is a bit pricey

    • Reporting Tags

      We've been using reporting tags for years (before itemizing was available) and now we are finding reporting these tags are impossible to track. Reports have changed in the customization and our columns of reporting tags no longer show up. We do not use

    • Function #53: Transaction Level Profitability for Invoices

      Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! We have previously provided custom functions for calculating the profitability of a quote and a sales order. There may be instances where the invoice may differ from its corresponding quote or sales order.

    • Consumption based inventory

      I am currently using Zoho Books for my hospitality business, which includes lodging and restaurant services. We purchase many items in bulk for storage and consumption as needed. I'd like these items to be recorded as inventory when purchased and categorized

    • Smarter Access Control: Role-Based Access vs. Responsibility-Based Profiles

      Every business has roles, responsibilities, and workflows. While roles help define structure, responsibilities within those roles are rarely the same. As your team grows, some members need access to only a specific set of features. Others require visibility

    • Partner with HDFC And Sbi Bank.

      Hdfc and sbi both are very popular bank if zoho books become partner with this banks then many of the zoho books users will benefit premium features of partnered banks.

    • Next Page